Gold and Silver waiting to be found in Northwest Florida

Here are a couple more buried treasure stories for you. Those pirates really didn’t take good care of their loot did they. Do you guys like the pirate and treasure stories I post once a week?  Let me know.  If they’re boring, I’ll post something else.

• Steinhatchee River… Three Civil War treasures are buried along the Steinhatchee River, which empties into Dead Man Bay in Taylor County. A Confederate blockade-runner chased by a Union ship was scuttled at the mouth of the river. The crew buried $500,000 in silver close by. Another blockade-runner hiding near the mouth of the river buried $140,000 in gold coins when a Federal gunboat appeared. After the war, members of the crew returned to claim the money, but were unable to find the location because a flood had taken away the markers along the bank of the river. Union Soldiers buried a cache of gold coins five miles from the mouth of the river.

• On the northwestern coast of Florida is the site of Billy Bowlegs’ hoard. He was believed to be one of Lafitte’s top men and for some time lived near New Orleans. After the Battle of New Orleans, he cut his ties with Lafitte and set out on his own. Moving to Santa Rosa Island near Pensacola, he started his own pirate kingdom. After accumulating much treasure, he decided to bury it. Thus, on a small island in Santa Rosa Sound, he buried most of his gold and silver bars. Nearby on the mainland, he deposited the bulk of his coins. In the hold of his ship was another million dollars in miscellaneous loot. This ship was later sunk, and has never been recovered. Billy Bowlegs’ treasure awaits discovery by some very lucky finder.

Over and out from somewhere south,
RumShopRyan